Santa Rita da Cascia a Casalotti
'''Santa Rita da Cascia a Casalotti '''is a mid 20th century parish church at Vicolo Casalotti 3, in the suburb and zone of Casalotti. It is south of the Via di Boccea and west of the Grande Raccordo Anulare (Circonvallazione Settentrionale). The dedication is to St Rita of Cascia. The church is within the city limits of Rome, but belongs to the diocese of Porto Santa Rufina. History This church has one of the worst public profiles of any parish church in Rome. The writer has only been able to find out that a priest was first appointed to the parish in 1959. His name was Don Armando Curzi, and he oversaw the construction of the church in the early Sixties. No other information is readily available as regards its history. Exterior Layout The church is a striking domed building, on the plan of a Greek cross with short arms. Unusually, the arms are diagonal to the major axis. The plan begins with an octagon, with a short arm attached to each diagonal side. Within the main octagon is a central octagonal dome. The sanctuary end of the church has a shallow sanctuary extension between the two far cross arms, and the left hand side has a small priest's house between the two cross arms there. The right hand side has no structure between the cross arms, but only a side entrance. There is a deep entrance bay in the form of a pentagon fitted in between the two front cross arms. The near halves of the two side walls of this have projections on a square plan forming what amounts to a transept, and the front of the pentagon together with the near walls of these projections constitute a coved (incurved) entrance façade. A tall tower campanile stands just beyond the far right cross arm, and is not aligned with any axis of the church. Fabric The church is built over a crypt, which is partly underground. The Via Santa Seconda, on the left, is well below the church which here stands over a high revetting wall. The fabric is in tufo stone ashlar blocks. These are decoratively laid in alternate wide and narrow courses, giving a striped effect. The wide courses consists of alternate square and vertical rectangular blocks, while the narrow courses consist of two horizontal rectangular blocks alternating with vertical rectangular ones. The cross arm ends have three tall rectangular windows each. Each of these windows has a three-sided angled top, and has a blue vertical rectangular panel at the bottom. The ends of the entrance bay transept each has a single shorter such window. A white band runs round the church at the level of the tops of the blue panels, and a second one at the level of the entrance bay roofline. A third band forms the roofline of the crypt. The church has roofing which is pitched and tiled, with the pitches of the entrance bay being very complicated. The low dome has eight tiled pitches, and its drum is entirely occupied by a horizontal window strip on each side. The design of the church was obviously influenced by that of the Basilica of St Rita at Cascia. Campanile The tall tower campanile is on a square plan, with four diagonally placed concrete piers at the corners. The walls are in the same sort of ashlar stonework as the church, with four thin white bands separating the storeys. The bell-chamber has two rectangular openings on each side, taking up the whole width and separated by a thin vertical strut. There is a rather complicated cap, consisting of a cube with chamfered vertical corners to which four sloping concrete struts are added. Façade The single entrance is approached by a three-sided flight of six stairs. It has a three-sided angled top, matching the windows, and is sheltered by a floating concrete slab canopy. This is inserted into the single white band running around the entrance bay. Above is a vertically stretched octagonal window. A pair of statues of angels stand on the roof above, and to the left is a statue of Our Lady on a column. Interior Some photos on Google Maps give a limited idea as regards the interior, but not enough to elicit much comment except to say that the sanctuary has over it three large rectanglar panels with frescoes in a neo-Byzantine style. Liturgy This church has a seriously poor online profile in all respects. There is no parish website or social media page. According to the Diocese (July 2018), Mass is celebrated on Sundays and Solemnities: 18:00 (Saturday), 7:30, 09:00, 11:00, 18:00. According to the website of the parish of Natività di Maria Santissima a Selva Candida, Mass is celebrated on weekdays at 8:00 and 18:00. This also mentions an additional 10:00 Mass on Sundays. External links Info.roma web-page Roman Despatches blog with gallery Category:Catholic churches Category:Outside the walls - North-West Category:Dedications to St Rita of Cascia Category:Parish churches Category:20th century Category:Diocese of Porto Santa Rufina